They were already into the drinking before getting there and yes many men do drink and surf so the fact that they went surfing is not evidence of not boozing - the boozed going down, probably slept overnight, went surfing and then boozed up again at night.

Oh The Horror of him attending one of his childhood friends stag weekend.

I'm glad William went to that stag-party. I would have encouraged him to go as well. Catherine is a smart wife and knows when to give and when to take. This is a modern family, not the 1820, when women were tied to babies and housework, while men were spending their days at work and their evenings in pubs. Good for the Cambridges, smart people.

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__________________"I grew up in Europe, where History comes from." - Eddie Izzard.

wow! such a big deal made over nothing! It's not like he abandoned his wife and child!!
Every new parent needs time away at first to keep their sanity!! That's all it is. sheesh!

agreed - not to mention he has been living with his in-laws. I don't care how much you may love your in-laws; living in someone else's home is going to feel stifling to any man. Catherine was probably - yes go - have a nice weekend. when you get back we'll have a few days you go to Anglesey and I will meet you up there and then we can head to Scotland; compromises all around but that is their life. They are a very mobile couple, they have been since they were married. nothing about their life is normal; they seem to be happy and engaged - so good for them.

Kate and her baby are being well looked after at the Middleton's. I don't see why William can't leave them for a weekend to attend one of his best friends' party. And it's not those random boozing club parties that he and kate used to go when they were young. It's a bachelor party that supposedly is a "once in a lifetime" event for his friend. And as what others have mentioned, it must have been planned a long time ago. Kate would have known beforehand and understand why William need to go.

A "once in a lifetime" event? A bachelor party is just an excuse for a booze-up with your mates. The same mates you regularly get together with for a booze-up anyway but this time you have the opportunity to give it a fancy name and try to make it sound important and significant. William hardly "needed" to go to this do. The wedding is the important event that he, and I hope Kate, "need" to go to.

__________________"That's it then. Cancel the kitchen scraps for lepers and orphans, no more merciful beheadings, -- and call off Christmas!!!"

They were already into the drinking before getting there and yes many men do drink and surf so the fact that they went surfing is not evidence of not boozing - the boozed going down, probably slept overnight, went surfing and then boozed up again at night.

On behalf of all beer swingers, I too drink when starting a trip out with friends when we are not driving. The trip starts the fun, although I find that when I swing my beer, some of it gets spilled, do I prefer to sip mine. I have also learned to bus my own table as the paps are endlessly counting my gin bottles.

A fellow passenger told The Sun newspaper: 'I walked through the carriage on the way to the buffet car and spotted William with a bunch of chaps swigging beer like it was going out of fashion.
'The tables were covered with cans and miniature bottles of gin and one chap seemed to be wearing gold lamé shorts.'

Above is the quote from the Mail - it does not say that William was boozing or swigging beer. The most accurate description is that he was with people drinking.

It's the Mail, and they exaggerate. Swigging = drinking. Today he was described as "gushing" in hos description of hos son - I saw the video, he made a joke.

Get a grip folks and stop believing the Daily Mail.

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This precious stone set in the silver sea,......This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England,

They were already into the drinking before getting there and yes many men do drink and surf so the fact that they went surfing is not evidence of not boozing - the boozed going down, probably slept overnight, went surfing and then boozed up again at night.

I did read it. But the picture of William on the train didn't look like he was drinking, or had even been drinking. I base my opinion on that, rather than something that the Daily Mail (being the Daily Mail) most likely invented, because who do I think called a DM reporter and said that the booze was flowing? No one, I'll bet. He may have had some drinks, but I doubt he was boozing it up. We'll have to agree to disagree.

First off, let me say that I don't really give a darn if Will was at a booze up with the mates or not, or home changing nappies and rubbing Kate's feet or not, but as for the notion that this wasn't a boozy weekend, let's get real. He WAS with Guy Pelly, if we ARE to believe the DM, AND the Telegraph. From all I've read of Mr. Pelly, one does not play Monopoly with him, sip wine and call it an evening. Just sayin'.

And most people who are with people who are drinking heavily also engage in the same behavior. Otherwise it's no fun. I speak from quite a bit of experience here. Not that I care. Will is an adult, he was not driving, he was not called upon to rescue Welsh damsels in distress who find themselves in the Irish Sea, and he can do as he likes. I don't care if he takes the odd weekend off from Georgie duty, but I'd wager quite a bit that he quite a few, and was a little worse for the wear.

One weekend off does not bad dad make. Show me the track record in 6 months or so, and I will give an opinion whether y'all ask for it or not.

I remember reading years ago that one of the mistakes HM and HRH made with Charles was sending him to Gordonstroun. If he had gone to Eton, he would have been associating with his peers and building relationships and friendships for the future. Everytime I see William attending or being in a wedding, or going to a stag, I am reminded of that.

Does anyone ever remember Charles being in a wedding other than his own? I think it's nice that William has a lot of friends and that they and he seem so relaxed while enjoying one another's company. Who wouldn't want to have a lot of friends?

Very true!
Charles admits he loathed Gordonstoun; he was unsure where to send his own sons (although Diana favored Eton) until someone he trusted told him that the friends he made at Eton were his oldest and most cherished life-long friends.

That pushed Charles onto Diana's side (and I expect had quite a bit to do with the sense of rapprochement they were beginning to find towards the end of her life).

On boarding schools, why are some people so sure they won't send George? It's kind of part and parcel of being a royal or upper class male and Realistically almost all of his peers and close friends, like Williams and Kates, will be of the public school, polo, society set he will meet at school.

Because a 'close friend' of Kate's who was also right about the pregnancy announcement and other things has said that Kate has said that they don't intend on sending him to boarding school - certainly not aged 8.

I suggest everyone re-read this entire thread. Some of the comments are so far out that I can't believe someone made them. Worth a laugh.

As a parent who encouraged my husband to take breaks and get out of the house when our children were born, I find it funny and yet very sad at the same time that people think William "abandoned" his wife and child. My hubby did the same for me when I wanted breaks. We did that and still do for one reason: we love and care about each other very much.

This is reaching the point where to even suggest anything negative about William is a cardinal sin - sorry but he is a human being and does some not so good things at times, he is in the military which has a track record of heavy drinking not only being accepted but expected - so long as it doesn't interfere with his duty - and thus many officers are binge drinkers, he comes from a generation in the UK where binge drinking is almost accepted behaviour and he has a track record of heavy drinking.

He isn't perfect and to suggest that he went to a stag do and didn't drink is weird as that is the point - give the poor bloke about to marry as boozy a weekend as possible before he settles down to married life and can't do it all the time anymore.

How much William drinks - who knows - but given his background and job probably a lot more than many people here would like to admit. Having had experience of army officers' messes and the drinking that goes on, along with the very negative attitude held towards anyone who didn't drink then I am sure that William does drink and quite heavily at times but he will also go for a week or more without drinking when on duty and on base.